The SongLyrics Guide to “Back to Black Friday”

Not that you would ever consider trampling over people in mad holiday consumerism rage at your local Best Buy or what-chain-have-you this Friday (November 25th) for a fifty-dollar t.v., but the wholesome folks over at Record Store Day (RSD) have a music nerd alternative for you: “Back to Black Friday.”

In 2007 as a nation-wide call-to-action to support your local, independently-owned record store, every third Saturday in April has been the day to turn your back on iTunes and go for an old-fashioned record bin dive in search of bunches of limited-edition vinyl that the RSD peeps have so brilliantly commissioned artists all over the world to exclusively create (i.e. The Flaming Lips reproduction of Pink Floyd‘s 1973 opus, The Dark Side of the Moon).

“Back to Black Friday,” now in its second year, however, is the RSD’s holiday little bro. And although there aren’t as many finds (here’s the full list) to be found as on RSD proper, there are more than enough to conflict with your inner Charlie Brown consumerism morale and to fight your fellow music nerd for—especially these five gems below. So let’s get ready to holiday hipster rumble, shall we?

Taken from the The Whole Love sessions over this past summer,Wilco chose this song as part of the fat trimmed for the September release of the record. If you’re a fan of the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot guitar freakout days of yore, prepare your mind to be boggled as to why the band didn’t include this six-and-a-half minute gem on the record as well, even as a hidden track. As an added bonus, there’s another unreleased track from the same sessions, “Message From Mid-Bar”, an alternate version of “Art of Almost” and a demo of “I Might” included as well.

This being the 20th anniversary of Nirvana‘s dawning of the age of grunge, Nevermind, the Nirvana camp has been issuing all sorts of goodies all year, including this very awesome four-single box set of every single pressing from the original release of the album—”Come As You Are“, “Lithium“, “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and “In Bloom“—along with all their b-side flips in tact.

Put on the backburner to deal with Adam “MCA” Yauch’s cancer diagnosis in 2009, this is the Beastie Boys‘ eighth LP. Originally, the group planned to drop a double-disc in two parts, hence the “part two” label, but decided to just push forward with the second half instead. “Chalk full of more stars than a Judd Apatow film,” says the band of a video contained in this deluxe package, expect additionally a 60-page hardbound book, among other treats.

An odd mosaic of soundcheck performances pulled from one of the band’s 1996 west coast tours along I-5 turns into an entertaining little portrait of early 90s rock here, including a sludgy and perfectly morose version of The Doors “Waiting For The Sun“. Chris Cornell a Jim Morrison fan? Get out. Also, the disc is red. You can’t lose here.

From the realm of The Who‘s second rock opera—they had two—Mr. Windmill himself is spearheading production and all-seeing Who eyes on a two-part series of Eps featuring six demos apiece from the Director’s Cut re-release of the 1973 landmark album, Quadrophenia. This is the first set, respectively.

About Gavin Paul

Gavin Paul is SONGLYRICS' Editor-in-Chief. Chicago-bred, New York-sculpted, his words and ideas have appeared in publications ranging from Spin and Rolling Stone to The Chicago Sun-Times and Arborist News.